Sword and Serpent by Taylor Marshall

Author:Taylor Marshall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, saints, historical fantasy, roman history, christian action adventure, historical ancient rome, catholic fantasy, catholic action adventure, teen 15 and up, christian adventure and suspense fiction
Publisher: Taylor Marshall

She woke with the first creeping light of dawn, and immediately wondered how she’d managed to sleep at all. On either side of the ship’s stern, men plied massive oars to help steer the vessel, and they were shouting across the ship at each other every few minutes with obvious indifference to their two sleeping guests. Almost directly in front of her stood the ship’s captain, watching the distant coastline and keeping an eye on the wind in the ship’s square sail. The sky hung heavy with a threatening storm and as far as she could see, the choppy waves churned with foam.

She pulled herself to her feet and folded the oily blanket, though the first blast of wind made her reconsider setting it aside. Tucking her hands inside the long, loose sleeves of her robe, she leaned on the rail and stared down into the foaming water left in the ship’s wake. Every now and then she spotted a flash of silver, then three lithe dolphins leapt from the water in graceful arcs. She caught her breath and thought about waking Hanno, but he was so soundly asleep she didn’t have the heart.

“They’re a sign of the gods’ favor,” a voice said behind her.

She froze, darting a glance over her shoulder to see the ship’s pilot close behind her, watching the water like her. Even if she had been able to answer, she wouldn’t have known what to say, so she only nodded in silence. She could believe it—she had never seen anything quite as beautiful as those gleaming silver bodies.

The pilot wandered back to his observations, and Sabra wondered if she had offended him by her silence. Deep down she wished for the freedom to speak openly. All her life she had known nothing but the walls of Cyrene—and, more particularly, the walls of her temple. In that city nestled in a valley between two rough hills, she had never imagined that the world was so large. Even here, hardly two days’ journey from Apollonia, the god’s name seemed unknown, or forgotten. Was Cyrene the only place he was worshipped?

Was it the only place he ruled?

She groaned and leaned her head in her hands. A headache pressed behind her eyes, throbbing relentlessly, reminding her how long it had been since she’d had anything to eat or drink. She was supposed to be in the temple right now, carrying out her ritual fasts with all the long chanted prayers for the god’s mercy. No one would be chanting in the darkness of the adyton now. Who would lull the god to sleep with bells on her ankles? Who would keep the spring from running dry?

It was no use. She would only drive herself mad with thoughts like those. Perhaps the god had willed that she be torn from her duty. Maybe without her there, the city would start to slip into greater ruin, and the people would realize how important his worship really was. Maybe then they would do

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